


Resting

by GoofyGoldenGirl



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Boss/Employee Relationship, Character Study, F/M, Feelings Realization, Holding Hands, Quiet Moment, Season 3 Spoilers, Tenderness, Watching Someone Sleep, gabenath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-20 02:16:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20667668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoofyGoldenGirl/pseuds/GoofyGoldenGirl
Summary: His gaze, Nooroo thought, was like of a man staring down at his loverInspired by the newest episode Ladybug





	Resting

It had been a while since the doctor packed up her things and left. Nathalie had taken her suggestion to heart and was slumped over in an uncomfortable slumber in the armchair. The side of her head was positioned at a tilted angle in the crook of her elbow. Her nose brushed up against her sleeve as she let out a deep exhale. Her glasses fogged up, and her jaw dropped and loosened her lips apart. 

Gabriel watched. The stiffness in his posture was beginning to become undone. He balanced himself at the edge of the chair with his legs spread out. His elbows were propped up against his knees and his hands were clasped together, almost as if they were in prayer, as he kept his concerned gaze on her. Nooroo hovered behind him in silence, feeling obliged to give his master some support even though knowing that Gabriel would not acknowledge him. 

“Nathalie. I know you want to help me. But I can’t let you be so reckless with your life,” Gabriel whispered.

He reached into his blazer to pull out the Peacock Miraculous. An icy anger lit up the blue of his eyes. 

“This _thing_ took away my _wife_ and now it wants to _drag_ you down with it. I can’t let that happen. I can’t loose _you._ With Emilie gone and if you go, what will become of me? Who would I have left to turn to? Will it just be me and my misery? Is that what this thing _wants?_ To take away everyone that I—”

His hand curled over the Miraculous. Fingers shot in as if to scrape the surface and pry it apart. Gabriel’s voice rose into a shout.

“Why can’t I just take a _hammer_ to the _damn thing_ and just get it over with!”

Blue smoke rose from between the scales. There came a crackling sound. Gabriel slid back in his seat. Nooroo jumped back with a hand on his mouth to stifle a gasp. The strands of smoke wove together then dissipated to reveal Duusu. 

“That _parasite,_” Gabriel muttered through clenched teeth. 

Duusu was oblivious to the mood around her and went straight to Nathalie. She placed her hand on her forehead, hummed, then looked over at Gabriel and Nooroo.

“Hey everybody! Everybody! We have to be quiet! Ms. Nathalie is resting!” Duusu announced in a chirpy voice. 

Gabriel was _furious._ Nooroo cowered in his spot for fear of any retaliation, but then noticed that Duusu was not reacting. He took a tentative step forward and reached out to her.

“Duusu--” He nervously started.

But there was no way of reasoning with her. She had taken off with a _whee_ and was frantically gliding to and fro across the dinning room. 

“Ms. Nathalie has to rest! Ms. Nathalie has to rest! Ms. Nathalie has to rest!”

Gabriel’s foot hit the floor with a reverberating clang.

“Will you **shut up?**”

Duusu froze. Her tail and antennae drooped. She sniffed and a large tear droplet trickled down her cheek. 

“I’m sorry Mr. Hawkmoth, I’m sorry. I really am sorry. Next time I promise I won’t be super duper loud. Ok?” She apologized. 

Before Gabriel could say anything, Duusu started prattling on again.

“But I just wanna make sure Ms. Nathalie’s gonna be ok. I want her to get all better again, so she’ll be back up and good as new, and _beautiful—_”

Something about her words made Nooroo’s already anxious disposition worsen. His wings were fluttering so fast that they seemed to dissolve into the air around them. The purple of his eyes appeared to burst of of his sockets as he gazed from Duusu over to his master. 

“She just wants to help you Mr. Hawkmoth and I mean who wouldn’t wanna help a guy like you? What you’re doing is _so_ noble. It’s so _romantic._ I can see why—-“

A succession of cartoon boing sounds followed by the popping of firecrackers came out of her mouth. Nooroo’s hands clutched the sides of his face as he looked on in horror.

Phrases stronger and fouler than a command to silence Duusu prickled on Gabriel’s tongue. His hand clenched over the Peacock Miraculous as if to crush it into tiny bits, but the severity of the situation at hand flooded his senses. He forced his outburst back into the pot it threatened to overflow from and held the Miraculous out towards Duusu.

“Just _get in,_” he said in an exasperated tone. 

Duusu let out a yelp as she was sucked back into the Miraculous. It vibrated once the last of her feathers were pulled in, then resumed its dormant form.

Gabriel pocketed the Miraculous back in his blazer. Nooroo moved forward so that he was in front of his master’s face.

“Sir, I feel the need to apologize on her behalf. Whatever damage her Miraculous took, it must have affected her head. She didn’t mean anything she meant to say, whatever it was.”

Gabriel nodded. He had resumed watching over Nathalie. Nooroo became quiet again.

Immediately, the coolness in Gabriel’s eyes melted upon noticing Nathalie’s peaceful smile. The longer he looked, the more relaxed he became. A pensive expression crossed his face. The corners of his mouth twitched. His hands shot to the back of the chair, and he scooted it forward so that he sat directly in front of her.

Nooroo awkwardly shifted in place. Gabriel reached for Nathalie’s hand that dangled over the armchair. He gently held it up and let it slide into his’. His thumb rubbed back and forth over Nathalie’s knuckles, down the back of her hand, before lifting it up. He moved in towards him. Their hands, still clasped together, rested by his heart. His breaths slowed to match her rhythm of her exhales. A warm smile lit up his face. His gaze, intense yet soft shone down on Nathalie. It was like, Nooroo thought, like that of a man gazing down at his lover. 

“Sir?” 

Gabriel let Nathalie’s hand fall. The chair screeched back. His posture straightened, and his expression was once again cool and stern. 

“Yes Nooroo?” Came Gabriel’s sharp voice.

“It looked like you were thinking,” Nooroo said. 

Gabriel’s right hand moved to fidget the wedding ring that he still wore.

“Yes. I was thinking about many things.”


End file.
